The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the attack that comes over a week after theleader of ISILin Afghanistan was killed in a US drone attack.

Al Jazeera's John Hendren, reporting from Kabul, said that at least 16 people, including journalists, were wounded in the attack, which took place in central Jalalabad close to the provincial governor's office and a busy square.

Among the dead were four RTA employees, including a driver, a guard, and two technical personnel, as well as two policemen, according to Mangal.

Who is to blame for the rise of ISIL?

ISIL has established a stronghold in Nangarhar, of which Jalalabad is capital, where it fights both the Taliban and Afghan government forces.

Last month, the US military dropped the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, dubbed the Mother Of All Bombs, on ISIL positions in Nangarhar, killing dozens of fighters.

The bombing was criticised by many in Afghanistan and abroad, saying that it amounted to using the country as a testing ground for the weapon.

Dangerous for reporters

The country suffered its deadliest year on record for journalists in 2016, according to the Afghan Journalists' Safety Committee (AJSC), adding that the country is the second most dangerous for reporters in the world after Syria.

As least 13 journalists were killed last year, AJSC said, claiming the Taliban was behind at least 10 of the deaths.

In January 2016, seven employees of popular TV channel Tolo, which is often critical of fighters, were killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul in what the Taliban said was revenge for "spreading propaganda" against them.

It was the first major attack on an Afghan media organisation since the Taliban were toppled from power in 2001.

Dan Coats, head of US intelligence agencies, said last week that the security and political situation in Afghanistan "will also almost certainly deteriorate through 2018, even with a modest increase in the military assistance by the US".

US-led forces have been fighting in Afghanistan for almost 16 years, making it the US' longest war.